08 January 2015

Charlie

Looking at these awful images of a policeman being executed at close range made me wonder if radical fundamentalism isn't the only killer here. I wonder if video gaming hasn't contributed in making it so much easier to simply blow 'someone away' with a click of the thumb. Sadly, as the French say, it is an amalgam of two mindless behaviors. But then, in fact, these guys are just street criminals and thugs.

Below, Twitter world is ablaze with praise for this murderous act, alas.

from the New York Times

A Twitter user who calls himself Abu Obaida al-Libi, borrowing an alias used by militants who have been killed in Libya or Syria, shared a photograph that appeared to show one of the Paris attackers pointing an automatic rifle at a victim, with the hashtag in Arabic, #WeAvengedTheProphet.

In another tweet, the same user hailed “a powerful operation in France” against “a paper known for its abuse of Islam” and said, “The next is worse.”

Many tweets seemed to indicate sympathy for the attack from people who admire the Islamic State extremist group, rather than any knowledge that that group was specifically responsible for the attack. One user seeking to draw a link posted a picture of a man wearing a many-pocketed khaki vest and said, “One of the brothers is wearing the Adnani ammunition vest. You pleased our hearts, one of the attackers is saying ‘God is Great’ (Allahu Akbar) in the middle of Paris.” (Abu Mohammad al-Adnani is an ISIS leader and spokesman who has been photographed in such a vest.)

An account that appeared to support Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula also celebrated the attack, saying that those who insult the Prophet Mohammad deserve death: “Being executed was the light punishment. Next comes eternity in the #Hellfire.”